GRallyTeam may have a pair of former Dakar Rally FIM champions on the roster for the Rallye du Maroc as Alexandre Giroud and Charan Moore make their FIA débuts.
Giroud would be the driver of a GRally OT3 with fellow Quad alumnus Jérémy Jacomelli as his co-driver. Moore would be the navigator of one other OT3 piloted by Puck Klaassen. The staff can even area two extra entries for Rui Carneiro and Ola Fløene in addition to Lionel and Lucie Baud.
Moore teased his car change on Tuesday when he wrote he “received’t be going again to Dakar on a motorcycle.” He received the 2023 Dakar Rally within the Unique by Motul (Malle Moto) subcategory earlier than transferring into the broader Rally2 class for 2024, the place he completed ninth general. Regardless of his successes on two wheels, he has been frank in regards to the bills of constant a motorcycle profession, particularly as a longtime privateer.
His driver Klaassen was a motocross rider earlier than a leg damage prompted her to alter to driving. She ran the Dakar Traditional in January earlier than happening to race within the World Rally-Raid Championship in a Taurus T3 Max.
On the quad aspect, Giroud is a two-time Dakar winner with back-to-back victories in 2022 and 2023. He additionally claimed the class’s inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship following his first Dakar victory, and received the 2023 Rallye du Maroc within the class. The Frenchman practically achieved a three-peat in January however got here up eight minutes quick.
Transitioning to an FIA class was inevitable for Giroud after the Amaury Sport Organisation introduced in April that the Quads have been dropped for the 2025 Dakar onwards. Lots of his fellow riders have additionally since made the change together with Manuel Andújar, who beat Giroud for the 2024 Dakar win earlier than profitable the W2RC, 2023 World Champion Laisvydas Kancius, Mikołaj Krysik, Pablo Copetti, Rodolfo Guillioli, and Juraj Varga. Whereas Jacomelli has by no means raced the Dakar, he’s an FIM World Bajas Cup veteran on a quad. Though Quads will nonetheless be on the Rallye du Maroc, a lot of the aforementioned will as a substitute be there in a automotive or side-by-side.
The Rallye du Maroc, the ultimate spherical of the 2024 W2RC, will run on 6–11 October. GRallyTeam completed ninth and twenty-first at school on the 2023 race with Kees Koolen and Luis Portela Morais, respectively.
